WA Government Defensive Over DNA Fiasco
An inquiry into government pathology service, PathWest, has found 11 anomalies in the forensic testing of samples relating to six of the 19 criminal cases examined. The revelations have put the state government on the back foot, with health minister Roger Cook...
Forgotten Australian Slavery: An Interview with ASSI-PJ President Emelda Davis
Benjamin Boyd was a wealthy entrepreneur who arrived in NSW in 1842. The Scottish-born coloniser bought large tracts of land around Eden, in southern NSW. Boyd had concerns about securing labour to work on his properties, so he undertook Australia’s...
High Court Rules that Anti-Protest Laws are Unconstitutional
A former politician’s recent win against the Tasmanian government calls into question the validity of anti-protest laws around the country. Former Greens Party leader Bob Brown is no stranger to standing up for what he believes in, and he’s long...
The CNS Prevents Indigenous Deaths in Custody: An Interview with Gerry Georgatos
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody delivered its final report on April 15 1991. The commissioners made 339 recommendations concerning custody procedures, liaison with Indigenous groups and the education of police. The 223rd recommendation was that police, Aboriginal...
Stop Testing Drivers for Minute Traces of Cannabis
Most Australian states and territories currently carry out mobile drug testing (MDT) operations that only test for three illicit substances: amphetamines, MDMA and cannabis. In Tasmania and the Northern Territory, police test for longer lists of illegal drugs. In NSW, authorities have...
Simply Punishing Violent Criminals Does Not Reduce Reoffending
Research into violent offenders suggests they are less deterred by punishment than others, and that a strictly punitive approach to punishment does nothing to reduce their likelihood of reoffending. MRI scans Researchers from Canada and the UK scanned the brains...
Intensive Correction Orders Reduce Re-Offending Rates
The NSW inmate population is at an all-time high. In June this year, there were 13,092 inmates being held in our state’s correctional facilities, according to NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) figures. 4,309 of these full-time adult...
Recent Report Triggers Debate About Gun Control Laws
Date published: 16 October 2017 Stephen Paddock killed 58 people and injured close to 500, when he opened fire on a crowd at a country music festival in Las Vegas on October 1. The gunman had a huge arsenal of high-power...
How Young is Too Young To Testify in Court?
A statement from a two-year old girl is being credited for leading to the child sexual assault conviction of her alleged abuser. The girl is believed to be the youngest person in the United Kingdom to give a statement to...
High Court Dismisses Appeal Against Attempted Murder Charge
On 28 April 2012, ex-Bandido biker club member Jacques Teamo walked into a Sony store in the Gold Coast’s Robina Town Centre mall accompanied by his two sons. Mark James Graham from rival club, the Mongols, was walking by and noticed...
